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On Red's catching phobia
When you look into Red's list of Pokémon, one would notice that it's a crazy short list (and could explain why he became Champion- because he could focus on such a small batch, similar to what his cousin Ash tends to do nowadays) and that his Pokémon are either given to him, had a desire to follow him, or in Taranis/Thora's case... traumatically caught.
Red is the first trainer registered in the world for a double capture- his first one, even, but the inexperience in capturing not just resulted in a traumatized Pikachu that ended up hating being in a Pokéball (Ash's Pikachu, if you haven't guessed already), but also a traumatized ten years old kid who found himself unable to return his own Pikachu back into their Ball, unless it's for a severe emergency (and even then, he'll keep the Ball in his hands, apologizing over and over again to his Pikachu for making them uncomfortable).
Red refuses to divulge exactly what happened that day, but since then, he's had a phobia of catching Pokémon except when they're given or wanting to follow him, and he absolutely refuses to force Pokémon to follow him if they don't want to.
Should he ever talk about it, however, he'll point to the four tiny scars on the right side of his neck, and explain that his double capture is also the moment his animosity towards Team Rocket started. On a search for a Pikachu on Professor Oak's behalf, Red found two being chased by two random Team Rocket Grunts. The result of capturing the Pikachu ended with him having a Zubat biting him on the neck with Poison Fang; and as the move's name revealed, Red has to endure poisoning before being found by the Pewter City's Officer Jenny. And both Pikachu were too tired to help Red out in his dilemma, exhausted from running away from the grunts. This is why Ash's Pikachu refuses to go back into his Pokéball- he doesn't want a repeat of that day- and why Red refuses to put his Pikachu in their Pokéball- because Red felt guilty that he went straight for a capture instead of using Ignatius to fight off the grunts, and doesn't want to force a Pokémon into a Pokéball anymore.
Red is the first trainer registered in the world for a double capture- his first one, even, but the inexperience in capturing not just resulted in a traumatized Pikachu that ended up hating being in a Pokéball (Ash's Pikachu, if you haven't guessed already), but also a traumatized ten years old kid who found himself unable to return his own Pikachu back into their Ball, unless it's for a severe emergency (and even then, he'll keep the Ball in his hands, apologizing over and over again to his Pikachu for making them uncomfortable).
Red refuses to divulge exactly what happened that day, but since then, he's had a phobia of catching Pokémon except when they're given or wanting to follow him, and he absolutely refuses to force Pokémon to follow him if they don't want to.
Should he ever talk about it, however, he'll point to the four tiny scars on the right side of his neck, and explain that his double capture is also the moment his animosity towards Team Rocket started. On a search for a Pikachu on Professor Oak's behalf, Red found two being chased by two random Team Rocket Grunts. The result of capturing the Pikachu ended with him having a Zubat biting him on the neck with Poison Fang; and as the move's name revealed, Red has to endure poisoning before being found by the Pewter City's Officer Jenny. And both Pikachu were too tired to help Red out in his dilemma, exhausted from running away from the grunts. This is why Ash's Pikachu refuses to go back into his Pokéball- he doesn't want a repeat of that day- and why Red refuses to put his Pikachu in their Pokéball- because Red felt guilty that he went straight for a capture instead of using Ignatius to fight off the grunts, and doesn't want to force a Pokémon into a Pokéball anymore.